Days ahead of the highly anticipated Gucci 100th Anniversary show, the fashion set received an invitation for Gucci Love Parade with a touching note from creative director Alessandro Michele “For the number of steps to be expected, count the entire block. Take this into account when selecting your shoes,” the note read. The block Michele referred to was no other than the famed Hollywood Boulevard.
In true Gucci fashion, it was a spectacular moment filled with the house’s quintessential grandeur. Guest got the Gucci Hollywood treatment arriving at a cleared-out Hollywood Boulevard with director chair seating spanning across the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The front row was naturally star-studded with Gucci friends including Billie Eilish, Tracee Ellis Ross Salma Hayek, Diane Keaton, Miley Cyrus, Dakota Johnson, Serena Williams, and Gwyneth Paltrow, who wore an updated version of her famous Tom Ford for Gucci ruby-colored suit for the 1996 VMA’s.
The A-list lineup didn’t stop in the frow — lights, camera, action celebrities including Jared Leto, an unexpected Macaulay Culkin, Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, and Steve Lacey at a starring role in the show taking the runway (err…boulevard) in Michele’s spring 2022 collection alongside a mass of models donning the rest of the 115 look collection. Iconic landmarks including the Chinese Theater, the Dolby Theater, and the Roosevelt Hotel served as the backdrop while an upbeat soundtrack played over the street. Everywhere you looked, connections with the film world (old and new) that served as Michele’s inspiration were spotted — I mean, it is Hollywood.
For the collection, Michele merges old Hollywood glamour with modern-day touches and classic Americana. Broad-shouldered tailored jackets filled the collection paired with vibrant leggings and sporty footwear (a definite nod to a post-pandemic aesthetic). As for the butt plug necklace, skintight latex, and black fetish lace, Michele reminds viewers of Gucci’s seductive origins in a post-show conference mentioning the brand isn’t a “monarchy of bourgeois,” nor has it ever been.
Just as much as a fashion show, the production was a tribute to the city of LA itself. Crediting his “mum,” who worked in the film industry as an assistant in a production company, Michele mentions, “When I started thinking about the way I wanted to celebrate this new chapter in my adventurous job, I thought about mum and her precious legacy. I thought about the worship of beauty she fed me with. About the indefeasible gift of dreaming and the mythopoetic aura of cinema. This is why I chose Hollywood Boulevard.”
The Gucci Love Parade was indeed massive FOMO for those of us not there. Still, it was absolutely the return to IRL Gucci shows we expected from the Italian luxury house after two years presenting digitally. If you missed the livestream last night, you can watch the show below — on repeat.
